20th Century Video Almanac/20th Century Video Almanac.iso/svgahelp.txt

Text File | 1993-06-18 | 15KB | 323 lines

SVGAHELP.TXT - last revised 06/19/93

You are most likely reading this file because your system did not respond
to VESA Super VGA Video BIOS Extensions (VBE) requests made by the
installation program.  Don't panic!  Problems such as yours are often easy
to fix (e.g. you haven't loaded the VESA driver for your video card).  This
file contains information which can help you get up and running.

The 20th Century Video Almanac requires a Super VGA (SVGA) card which
complies with the VESA SVGA Video BIOS Extensions (VBE), version 1.2, and
which is capable of displaying 640x480 pixels in 256 colors (VBE video mode
101 hex).  This product has been tested on VESA VBE-compatible video cards,
and is known to work correctly with a compliant system.

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1. What are the VESA Super VGA Video BIOS Extensions?
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There are vast number of SVGA video boards on the market.  Because there
was no existing standard when the first SVGA boards became available, each
manufacturer chose different ways of controlling the additional video modes
that SVGA offers.  This means that a program would need to determine which
SVGA board was in use, and make the correct calls to the video hardware for
that board.

The VBE is a standard which allows software developers to support one
method for controlling SVGA video modes that will run on a wide variety of
cards.

Many new SVGA cards support the VBE directly on-board.  For older SVGA
cards, manufacturers have developed Terminate-and-Stay-Resident (TSR)
programs which map the standard VBE requests into the specific commands
required for their particular SVGA chip set.

NOTE: some manufacturers refer to this TSR program as a "VESA driver."


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2. Where can I find a TSR for my video board?
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The first place to look for a TSR is on a utilities diskette in the box
containing your SVGA card.  It will most likely have a name like VESA.COM
or VESA.EXE.  Sometimes there will be some additional characters in the
name.  For example, the TSR for SVGA cards based on the Tseng Labs chip set
is often called TLIVESA.COM.

If you purchased a system that was pre-configured, chances are that the
file is in a directory on your hard drive.  Type the following command at
the DOS prompt:

    DIR C:\ /S | FIND "VESA"

to locate any files with "VESA" in their name.  If you have the Norton
Utilities, the File Find utility can be used for this same purpose.  (NOTE:
the /S parameter of the DIR command is only available under DOS 5.0 or
higher [required for this product]).


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3. No luck.  My dog ate the box and the diskette.
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Don't give up.  The first thing to do is call the dealer that sold you the
card or system.  They may be able to help you get a replacement disk.  If
you have a complete system, the dealer or system manufacturer can probably
tell you if a VESA TSR was included with your system, and where to find it.
At worst, the dealer/vendor should be able to tell you what kind of a card
you have.


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4. Still no luck.  The dealer is out of business or can't help me.
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Don't give up!

If you have a manual for the card, it may have the information you need to
determine which SVGA chip set your video card uses, information on setting
up the card for VESA VBE-compatibility, or information on how to get
technical support.  The information you need may be in a section of the
manual called "VESA compatibility" or "Device Drivers".

Many video cards report the name of the manufacturer and other useful
information when you do a hard reset of your system (i.e. turning it on or
pressing the reset switch).  Trying resetting your system and looking at
the first few messages which appear on your screen.

As a courtesy, we have included a program which will attempt to determine
what kind of a video card is installed in your system.  To run the program,
make sure the Almanac CD-ROM is in the drive (label side up), and type

    X:\SVGATEST

where 'X' is the letter of your CD-ROM drive.  Don't forget to press the
Enter key.  Among other things, SVGATEST will report

Super VGA chip type is          ATI TECHNOLOGIES
                CHIPS & TECHNOLOGIES
                GENOA SYSTEMS
                PARADISE/WESTERN DIGITAL
                TSENG LABS
                VIDEO7/HEADLAND TECHNOLOGIES
                *** UNRECOGNIZED ***

SVGATEST also prints out the first 256 bytes of memory at C000 and E000
(the most likely places for the video card's ROM-BIOS).  You may see text
here that will help you determine the manufacturer's name.

Unfortunately, automatic detection of SVGA hardware is not 100%-reliable
(another reason for the VESA standard!).  SVGATEST may report that it does
not recognize your card for several reasons:

    * QEMM "stealth mode" has relocated the video BIOS from its normal
      location at C000 in memory.  Try running SVGATEST without QEMM
      active.

    * Your SVGA card uses a chip set which is not one of the above.  The
      chip sets listed are the most common, but newer chip sets may not be
      recognized (although most newer cards support VBE directly).
      Contacting the manufacturer of your board or chip set is probably
      the only way you will be able to get the necessary support.

    * You have a standard VGA or other non-SVGA video adapter.  In this
      case, you will be unable to run the program, as it requires an SVGA
      that is compatible with VBE 1.2.

If you have experience opening up your computer, feel comfortable doing
it, and know which of the adapter cards is your video card (Hint: it's the
one that your monitor is plugged into), you can probably determine the chip
set being used on your video card just by looking.  For example, the top of
the chip may say "Tseng Labs ET4000AX" or "WDC WD90C00" (a Western Digital
chip).

WARNING: TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER AND UNPLUG IT FROM THE WALL BEFORE
ATTEMPTING TO OPEN IT UP.

Don't forget someone who has a system or video card like yours. They may
have already solved the problem for you!  Or perhaps you have a computer-
knowledgeable friend who might be willing to help you.


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5. OK.  I've figured out who made my card.  How do I get the TSR software?
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If you know the company that made your card (or the SVGA chip set that it
uses), chances are that you can call their Customer Support number and get
the help you need.  They may be able to send you a diskette, direct you to
their BBS, or some other source (such as Compuserve) for the TSR.

Here are the Customer Support numbers for some of the most popular SVGA
card manufacturers:

    ATI Technologies................[phone]
    Chips & Technologies............[phone] extension 4129
    Genoa Systems...................[phone]
    Paradise (Western Digital)......[phone]
    Sigma...........................[phone]
    STB.............................[phone]
    Tecmar..........................[phone]
    Tseng Labs......................[phone]
    Trident Microsystems............[phone]
    Video7/Headland Technologies....[phone]
    Western Digital (Paradise)......[phone]

While we have made every attempt to ensure that these numbers are
accurate, they are subject to change.  You may have a more up-to-date
number in the manual for your SVGA card.

If you have a modem and subscribe to Compuserve, you may be able to
download the most current TSR software from Compuserve.  Type "GO VESA"
at the prompt, which will take you to the IBM Programmers forum.  You
will need to select Library 12, which contains a variety of VESA-related
materials.  Using the BROWSE command will describe each of the available
files in the library.


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6. I know what SVGA card I have, but (a) the vendor is unreachable,
   and/or (b) I don't subscribe to Compuserve.
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As a courtesy, we have included a number of TSRs from various video card
manufacturers.  These manufacturer-supplied TSRs are the most recent
available from VESA, but newer (and possibly more compatible) TSRs are
probably available directly from the video card manufacturer.  We haven't
tested all of these drivers, and since we didn't write them, we can't
supply technical support for them.  They may help you get up and running,
but WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU CONTACT YOUR VIDEO BOARD MANUFACTURER FOR THE
LATEST VERSION OF THEIR TSR.

The TSRs are located in subdirectories in the \VESA directory of the
CD-ROM.  The subdirectory names match the names of various video card
manufacturers.  If you don't find the name of your manufacturer, try
running SVGATEST.

If you used SVGATEST to determine your card type, it only reports the
SVGA chip type used by the manufacturer.  Here's where to look, based on
what SVGATEST reports:

    ATI Technologies                \VESA\ATI

    Chips & Technologies            \VESA\CHIPS

    Genoa Systems                   \VESA\GENOA

    Paradise/Western Digital        \VESA\PARADISE

    Trident Microsystems            \VESA\TRIDENT

    Tseng Labs                      \VESA\TSENG

    Video7/Headland Technologies    \VESA\VIDEO7


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7. OK, I've got the TSR for my video board.  Now what?
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Now we're getting somewhere!

First of all, if VESA.COM (or whatever it's named) is on a diskette, copy
it to your hard drive.  Load VESA.COM, and then re-run the installation
program.  For example, if you copied VESA.COM to C:\STUFF\VESA.COM on your
hard drive, you should type

    C:\STUFF\VESA

and press Enter.  This will load the TSR into memory.  Be sure to look at
any messages the TSR displays on loading, and make sure it loaded
successfully.  Now run the INSTALL program from the CD-ROM drive as before.

If you plan to use the Almanac regularly (and we hope you do!), you should
probably add the line

    C:\STUFF\VESA

(or whatever is correct for your system) to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, so it
will be loaded whenever you start your system.  If you don't add this line
to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, you will need to type the command each time
before running the Almanac.  The Almanac will remind you if you forget to
load the TSR, as it checks for the presence of a VBE-compatible system
when it starts.

NOTE TO ADVANCED USERS:  you may want to load the TSR into high memory to
maximize the memory available to DOS programs.  Use the command that is
appropriate for your memory manager (e.g. LOADHIGH for EMM386.EXE).


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8. I've loaded a TSR, but the installation program still doesn't detect a
   VESA VBE.
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You probably rebooted your system after loading the TSR.

Remember, the TSR won't be there when you reboot your system, unless you've
added the command to load the TSR to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.  If INSTALL
still reports that your system is not responding to VBE requests, make sure
that you've loaded the TSR.

First, try loading the TSR by typing the command at the keyboard.  Make
sure there are no error messages.  If INSTALL still doesn't run, you may be
using the wrong TSR.

If you added the command to load the TSR to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, check
to make sure that it was typed correctly, and that it executes correctly
when you reboot your system (you may want to put a PAUSE command after the
command which loads the TSR, so you can make sure).


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9. I've loaded the TSR, INSTALLed the program successfully, and yet the
   program reports <not VESA compatible> when I run it.
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You probably rebooted your system after INSTALLing the program.  Remember,
the TSR won't be there when you reboot your system, unless you've added
the command to load the TSR to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.

First, try loading the TSR by typing the command at the keyboard.  Make
sure there are no error messages.  If the program still doesn't run, you
may have loaded a TSR which doesn't check to see if the correct hardware
is present (yes, there actually are TSRs which are that dumb!).

If you added the command to load the TSR to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, check
to make sure that it was typed correctly, and that it executes correctly
when you reboot your system (you may want to put a PAUSE command after the
command which loads the TSR, so you can make sure).


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10. I've loaded the TSR, INSTALLed the program successfully, the program
    runs, and yet the display doesn't look right when I run the program.
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Again, make sure you are running the latest version of the TSR software
(if any) for your video.  Contact the video card manufacturer to see if
your card is known to be incompatible with this program.  If you've tried
every other avenue, then call our Technical Support numbers:

    Voice: [phone]
      FAX: [phone]

We want you to be satisfied with your Software Toolworks product.


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11. I've loaded the TSR, INSTALLed the program successfully, and the
    program looks and runs great!
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That's great!  Don't forget to send in your registration card, and thanks
for buying our product...

Enjoy!


VESA is a registered trademark of the Video Electronics Standards Association.

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